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​March 20, 1602 marked the beginning of the inexorable end for many a state in the then known world. On that day, four hundred years ago, a group of Dutch merchants and independent trading companies, impatient with the monopoly that the Portuguese had established over the spice trade with East Asia at the end of the fifteenth century and keeping the British imperial merchants in check, founded the Vereenigde Landsche Ge-Oktroyeerde Oostindische Compagnie, better known to the Anglophone world as the Dutch East India Company or simply the VOC.

​Suleyman I was born on 27th April 1495, Monday in Trabzon. His father was Sultan Selim I and his mother was Hafsa Sultan. Suleyman I was a tall man with a round face, hazel eyes broad forehead and a thin beard. Suleyman the Magnificent had reigned for forty six years (1520-1566) and this is the most memorable epoch of the empire, when it reached a pitch of grandeur and prosperity which was never afterwards surpassed, and from which it soon began to decline.Suleyman is commonly designated by European writers the "great" or the "magnificent". 2nd Website for Research

From 1405 until 1433, the Chinese imperial eunuch Zheng He led seven ocean expeditions for the Ming emperor that are unmatched in world history. These missions were astonishing as much for their distance as for their size: during the first ones, Zheng He traveled all the way from China to Southeast Asia and then on to India, all the way to major trading sites on India's southwest coast. In his fourth voyage, he traveled to the Persian Gulf. But for the three last voyages, Zheng went even further, all the way to the east coast of Africa.

​God, Gold, Glory - Three reasons behind the expeditions of North and South America were greed (gold and world power), glory (fame), and God (religion). For example, the earliest settlers in New England came searching for a place to practice their religious beliefs free of persecution from the British Crown while the earliest settlers in South America came in search of gold.

​Middle Passage: During the Transatlantic Slave Trade, ships had to cross the Atlantic Ocean. This journey was called the Middle Passage. Africans were crammed into the bottom hulls on a boat with little ventilation, sanitation or proper nutrition. Many Africans died before even making it to North America.

Spanish explorers were known as conquistadors. These men primarily conquered South and Central America, as well as Southwest North America. Whether they came for God, Gold or Glory, history was about to be made. Go on an adventure as a conquistador from PBS.

​In the 1500’s, Spain systematically conquered parts of North, Central and South America as well as the Caribbean. With native governments such as the efficient Inca Empire in ruins, the Spanish conquistadorsneeded to find a way to rule their new subjects. The encomienda system was put in place in several areas, most importantly in Peru. Under the encomienda system, prominent Spaniards were entrusted with native communities.

​Many European nations wanted to spread the Christian faith to indigenous cultures, so they sent missionaries to teach people about Christ. Missionaries often protested the treatment of indigenous cultures and would write accounts of their experiences abroad.

​As technology and exploration increased, what was once a very large and partially disconnected world quickly became interconnected through the process of globalization.

​Triangular Trade Route: A massive trading system was set up between Europe, Africa and North America. Europe provided luxury items, guns and alcohol to North America and Africa. Africa provided slaves to the Americas, and North America sent crops and furs to Europe; creating the Triangular Trade Routes. More info

​European Colonization of North America

​Answers to Unit Vocabulary

​This lesson is intended to be taught after students have been introduced to the concept of colonialism and the age of exploration so that students can see the connection between global trade and its lead into the slave trade.

​Compare perspectives of Chief Mojimba and Henry Stanley on a deadly event of early European colonization in Africa.

​Students will explore several primary and secondary sources about colonization of different parts of the world in order to try to answer the question, "Why did Europeans colonize?"